The 30th anniversary of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is not far off, but the consequences of the most terrible technogenic catastrophe of the twentieth century remind of themselves even now, after such a long time. Not everyone remembers what happened then, in the first days after this monstrous accident. Many of the witnesses simply did not survive to this day.
When the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred on April 26, 1986, the Soviet authorities at first decided, as was customary then in the USSR, to hide this event from their people and, moreover, from foreign countries. But the very next day after the disaster, the overall level of radiation rose sharply in Eastern European countries and Scandinavia. A week later, the background radiation exceeding the norm was recorded alternately in North America, Australia and Japan. So we had to issue a short TASS news report about a minor accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant with a small release of radioactive substances into the atmosphere.
First victims
The consequences of the Chernobyl accident were first felt by the firefighters who came to extinguish the fire at the 4th power unit. Very young guys were the first to rush into the radioactive hell. By the way, this fire looked quite harmless at first sight. If it were not for the radiation level one and a half thousand times higher than the norm. Without even basic protective equipment, these people literally kicked flaming pieces of radioactive graphite from the roof of the power unit with their feet.
All of them were taken to a local hospital in the morning in a severe unconscious state. They had only a few days to live.
Total misunderstanding of the threat
The biggest misfortune was not even the accident itself, but a complete lack of understanding of what had happened, both by ordinary people and by leaders of various levels. What can we talk about if even the head of state Mikhail Gorbachev, according to the memoirs of nuclear scientists, at first did not attach much importance to this tragic event.
Meanwhile, thousands of people worked in Chernobyl to eliminate the already occurred and possible future consequences of the tragedy. Unfortunately, almost none of them knew how to behave in conditions of increased radiation. The liquidators sometimes did not follow basic security measures.
Sometimes this behavior was associated with real heroism. The members of the helicopter crews, who cemented the emergency reactor from the air, literally fell sick after each flight. But after a short rest, they flew back into the radioactive hell that reigned over the reactor. Because they well understood that no one except them could prevent a new, even more terrible disaster.
But there were also such pseudo-heroes who, out of empty curiosity, strove unnecessarily closer to the damaged reactor. In the heat, they poured contaminated water on themselves from the hoses and went to bed on the deadly ground.
There were also completely innocent victims. For example, on May 1, residents of cities who subsequently fell into the resettlement zone due to the deadly radiation background, as usual on this holiday, went to the workers' demonstrations. The organizers of these events, it seems, themselves did not understand what they were doing. Leaving the house, even for the shortest possible time, was very dangerous.
The number of victims of Chernobyl is still impossible to establish. Because even now, decades later, their number continues to grow.
